Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Oh Dear

Well, with my big mouth it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Mixed in with the warm fuzzy comments, I got my first critique. Anonymous, but quite pointed. A while back, I made an offhand comment about the lack of men's sweater patterns for anyone who was under 65 and not "a dentist, a dork, or a C.P.A."

So I heard from a young C.P.A., married to a dentist, and not dorky, who was not pleased with me at all, and said it spoiled the pleasure she'd gotten out of reading my blog.

Dilemma.

What does one do?

I know some bloggers have no-change, no-delete policies, which is well and good for them. I certainly don't. I consider any piece of writing on here subject to revision or correction at my whim at any time. This is a diary, not a newspaper of record.

And of course, some might say, "That's my opinion, I'm sticking by it." I considered it. Were the comment in the nature of a deeply held belief or educated opinion, that would be my response, even if it meant nobody ever read this blog again.

But I pondered, and decided:

I do not, in fact, have deeply held beliefs about the sartorial habits of either dentists or C.P.A.s. The comment was intended to be humorous.

That said remark reads, to those who know me not, as something of a swipe against a group of people against whom I have no grudge or ill-will.

That just as I would prefer that people not classify me as a [sissy, slut, child molester, etc] because I'm gay, I really ought not to lump the dentists and the C.P.A.s into the "dork" category without compelling evidence. (And come to think of it, the woman who does my taxes always wears very kicky hammered jewelry.)

And so, as sole proprietor and custodian of this here blog: I offer the lady who wrote an apology for having written without thinking (not that she will ever see it), and I will be altering the wording of that entry.

And to those of you who fear I'll always sway like a willow in the wind and stop offering opinions in order to never offend again: Just wait a couple minutes.

20 comments:

You might be pleased to know that Knitty's July 2005 issue is titled, "The Man Issue." Actually, you may want to consider submitting an article yourself. I'll put the link here where you can click my name... I thoroughly enjoy reading what you have to write and I'm sure many others would as well.

Well you responded to my "dorky CPA" hurt feelings...you truly are the sensitive man you seemed to be in your blog--I guess no one is immune to letting a stereotype slip. I'm sorry about your Aunt. Its wonderful she was so supportive of you unconditionally. Thank you...and you are entitled to your opinion.

But has she found a good pattern?It isn't fair to criticize anonymously. That's like taping a note to the front door, ringing the doorbell and running away, particularly since "Other" is an option.I think you're right: most men's patterns are dull. I suspect that is because most of the knitters are women who knit for men who will take a sweater only if doesn't attract too much attention.There, I've said two or three controversial things.Later.

A woman was in the hospital after feeling very ill. The doctor says to her, "I have some bad news for you. You only have three months to live." "Oh that's terrible," the woman sighs, "what am I going do?" The doctor replies, "Marry an insurance agent." "Will I live longer?" asks the woman. "No," replies the doctor, "but it will SEEM longer."

Insurance agents are premium lovers.

Insurance agents do it with third parties.

Q: How many insurance agents does it take to change a light bulb?A: That depends on whether the light bulb burned alone or with the whole house.

Stand to your convictions man! The patterns for men suck, by and large! They are intended for old geezers who get cold, hence the volume of cables.

Hullo? (knocks on monitor) Female designers? Stop designing sweaters for men with cables!!! We can't wear them to work (where we spend too much of our damn time anyway) because you hormonal females control the office temperature!

By the by, I'm extremely cranky today, otherwise this would be a snappier comment. {G}

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